


A Day Off

by BloodyJinxii



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Akira is awesome at arcade machines, Arcades, Gen, Neo Featherman, Plushies, ShuAke if you squint reeeaaally hard, UFO catchers, but still, implied Persona 5 spoilers, not much though, there be some implied spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 08:45:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9988784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodyJinxii/pseuds/BloodyJinxii
Summary: Goro stops by an arcade on his day off.





	

Goro was always relieved whenever Sae insisted on giving him a day off, especially when he was still waiting on results from his last mission. Of course he  _ had _ to pretend like he'd  _ never _ want to  _ ever _ miss a day of work, that being a detective was the greatest thing to ever happen to him. He had to keep up appearances. Once her tone shifted from suggesting to commanding, he would relent.

 

Tinkling electronic music caught his attention and he turned his head to notice a small arcade in the building next to him. On a whim, he went inside, surveying the shooters, rhythm games, and the like, all manned by kids in middle or elementary school, when he noticed a UFO catcher in the next aisle, with small plush dolls from the newest fad anime as prizes. He paid for a round and the music started up again as he moved the claw around, before pressing the grab button. It almost grabbed the arm of one of the dolls, but slipped out of its grasp. He cursed and tried again. This time, it managed to actually pick up a toy, but dropped it at the last moment. He tried one last time, jerking the claw around, before slamming the button, and pulling up nothing.

 

"Jeez, how many times are you going to try?"

 

He turned to see Akira Kurusu, that barista from down the street smiling teasingly at him.

 

"Just let me do it," Akira insisted, taking over Goro's spot. He moved the claw with military precision, before pressing the grab button, firmly securing the doll and dropping it safely in the bin.

 

"Y'know, you never really struck me as the childish kind of guy," he said, pulling the plush from out of the bin.

 

Goro blinked at the accusation. "What?"

 

"I don't know, you just struck me as the kind of guy who...watches documentaries for fun, you know what I mean?" Akira shrugged, handing him the toy. "It's whatever though. To each their own."

 

He stared at the toy and then back at him. "Keep it."

 

"Nah, I already have this one," he smiled, tucking it into Goro's bag. "Besides, I think you wanted it more."

 

With that, he winked and walked away, towards the wall of shooters.

 

~

 

As soon as he locked the door to his apartment, he took the doll out of his bag. It was a ridiculous, cute thing, with a wide, cheeky smile and a large blue hat.

 

_ "You never really struck me as the childish kind of guy." _

 

Childish…

 

That's what this was, right?

 

He used to be proud of his collection, his limited edition figurines of heroes from tonkatsu shows, posters signed by the actors who played all his favorite heroes he spent hours bidding on, and rare plushies of cartoon characters. He'd spend hours pouring over manga and watching the anime adaptations, playing the games that he could afford. But now...it all looked so stupid. He's a senior in high school, he has a job, he has a  _ mission, _ he shouldn't be wasting his time on silly crap like this.

 

He put the doll down on the counter and began  then tackling his shelves, knocking the figures into a  bin, untacking the posters from his wall, rolling them up and placing them in a corner and finally he approached his bed, grabbing every plush and tossing them into an empty garbage bag. Just as he pulled one away, one slipped into the space between the bed and the wall. Cursing, he reached down and searched, finally pulling out a raggedy old doll from a cartoon that had been cancelled for years, a cartoon he used to be obsessed with, a cartoon he used to watch with his mother...

 

He stared at it for a minute, at its black bead eyes, still shiny after years of foster homes and new schools and faces he could no longer place names to.

 

How old was he when he realized the show had ended? What house was it that banned "trash TV" like Featherman and Witch Detective? What school had that club that he could never work up the nerve to join?

 

Slowly, he curled up on the bed, held the toy to his chest, and cried.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are much appreciated as this is my first AO3 work!


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